Thinking Strategically - Beam Me Up!

Thinking Strategically - Beam Me UpThinking Strategically - Beam Me UpHeres another (actual) case which calls for strategy analysis. First of all, remember not to make any assumptions. Dont apologize for not watching the show - ask your interviewer (who, if theyve given you this question, is probably a fan) how exactly the transporter works. Effectively, the transporter is a near-instantaneous teleportation device. However, you should make sure you dont assume exactly what the transporter, as invented, can or cant do. (In this case, non-Trekkies may have an advantage)Lets see how this Q&A might proceedYou Um, could you tell me exactly how the transporter works? How much can it transport at one time? Interviewer Lets say the transporter can transport about the mass of Captain Kirk.You That would be about 200 pounds. Can it transport only living things, or inanimate objects as well?Interviewer Any type of object. You Can it transport anywhere at any time?Interviewer Yes.Yo u Does there need to be another transporter at the end to receive the transport?Interviewer No, its pretty much a one-way process.You How common are these devices? Are they going to be readily available to the average consumer? How much do they cost?Interviewer For the time being, the transporters are expensive. They would cost about $100,000 each.You That clearly takes them out of the range of most home users. How much does it cost to use them?Interviewer Assume that the marginal cost of a transport is near zero. The only cost is for the transport-operator time, which is relatively small.You Are they safe? You said they were just invented.Interviewer Except for the occasional freak accident, yes, they are safe. They are as safe as plane travel.You That makes them very safe indeed. Okay, what Im going to do is analyze how transporters will affect the following transportation industries cars, passenger airlines, cargo shipping and package transport. Interviewer Fin e. Go ahead.You These transporters dont seem like theyll take the distributions-mix of cars. They are too expensive for home use. Larger companies could afford them, however. I could see some companies buying transporters in order to transport their employees and clients back from the office. They would need a transporter chief, of course. So there might be some impact on commuter traffic - perhaps 10 to 20 percent. If mass transit systems adopt transporters as well, the impact on traffic may be greater.On the other hand, the transporter is a terrific substitute for plane travel. Its instantaneous and from what you say, as safe as plane travel. The transporter will definitely be a serious competitor to airlines. Conceivably, passengers could be beamed directly to their destination, instead of going to the airport. The only drawback that I can see to the transporter is that any luggage would need to be beamed separately. And anyone weighing over 200 pounds may not be able to be beamed at all. This means that airplanes wouldnt disappear, but they would be used mostly for cargo transport and other heavier loads. They would probably serve fewer markets, as there would be much-reduced passenger travel to supplement their flights.As far as cargo, I think ships and planes would still be used for most cargo transport. Two hundred pounds is too small an amount for mass transport, and Im assuming that you cant separate the contents of a transporter, that you can only beam stuff to one area at once. Interviewer Thats how I understand it, yes. YouThen getting packages sent same day, to anywhere in the world, would be a premium service. You could only ship one package at a time. You might be able to charge double or triple the price of an overnight package. Shipping companies like Federal Express might profit from its introduction.

Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business

Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business Broadvoice Launches Advanced Call Center Features for Business Monitor allows a supervisor to silently listen in on an agents active call. Whisper enables a supervisor to speak directly to the agent on the active call without the other party hearing the comments. Barge lets the supervisor speak to both the agent and the other party, effectively creates a 3-way call which is initiated by the supervisor.Shawn Jones, Vice President of Business ausverkauf said, Our nimble nature allows Broadvoice to quickly meet the changing needs of our customers. We listen to our clients and keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening in our industry. Then, our development team and engineers work diligently to roll the features out, tested and ready to go. But most importantly, we continue to develop cutting edge technology while maintaining competitive pricing.In addition to the Monitor-Whisper-Barge features, Broadvoice offers oth er premium features, such as auto attendant and HIPAA-compliant virtual fax that are available on an a la carte fundament for a nominal fee. More than 45 other advanced features are provided at no additional charge by Broadvoice for all their business customers.

Evolving Job Descriptions and Titles

Evolving Job Descriptions and TitlesEvolving Job Descriptions and Titles*/Read the infographic text.Evolving Job Descriptions and TitlesThe roles of administrative professionals continue to change and expand. OfficeTeam and the International Association of Administrative Professionals? (IAAP?) surveyed more than 2,200 administrative professionals to find out how accurately their job descriptions, titles and salaries match what theyre doing at work.How important is it to have a job title that accurately reflects your job duties and responsibilities?53% Very important40% Somewhat important6% leid very important1% Not important at allUnique Administrative Job TitlesSome emerging job titles show the growing influence of support staff in the officeCHIEF Executive AdministratorDirector of First ImpressionsADMINISTRATIVE CHIEF OF STAFFDirector of AdministrationAdministrative Services ManagerHow accurate do you think your job description is?50% Its an accurate description of the work I do41% Its inaccurate - my job duties have evolved considerably9% Im not sure - I cant remember the last time I saw itHow often do you help with something thats outside of your job description?55% Very often32% Somewhat often12% Not very often1% NeverMost Unusual Requests Received at WorkSupport staff are often taking on more than standard administrative tasksOrganize a hula-hoop competition for executive staffPurchase and assemble Christmas trees in seven office locationsFind the missing toolbar at the bottom of someones laptop screenTake care of the offices pet snailsHelp land a helicopter on top of the buildingCall airport security to locate a lost shoeGet a snake out of the womens bathroomWrite a skit about hand-washingTranslate a presentation slide deck from German to EnglishGet a visa to India in two hoursHow do you feel youre being paid in your current job?In many cases, the salaries for administrative professionals arent adding up50% About what you deserve46% Less than what you deserve3% More than what you deserveOFFICE OF THE FUTUREEvolving workplace trends impacting administrative professionalsFor more information on Office of the Future, visit officeteam.com/ootf. 2014 OfficeTeam. A Robert Half Company. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V.All referenced trademarks are the property of their respective owners.Source OfficeTeam and IAAP survey of 2,290 administrative professionals in the United States and Canada. Some responses do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

10 Great Jobs for Retirees Who Want to Go Back to Work

10 Great Jobs for Retirees Who Want to Go Back to Work10 Great Jobs for Retirees Who Want to Go Back to WorkWhen retirement isnt all you thought it would be or your retirement income isnt cutting it, consider going back to work. Todays workplace is trending towards flexible work options, and there are many opportunities available for retirees who want to stay active and earn a paycheck. You dont have to commit to full-time employment to get hired.There are many jobs available that you can do on a freelance, temporary, short-term, part-time or seasonal basis. Work isnt all about money, especially when you have spent a lot of your life doing it already. Keep an open mind and think about what you could do, rather than what you did in the past. Also, think about what would be fun to try or to do.One of the easiest ways to keep working after retirement is to keep your old job or another job with the company on a part-time or contract basis. If youre interested in staying on, check with yo ur boss about what options are available.If thats not feasible, consider ansicht jobs that work well for retirees. Look at jobs that youd like to do, not just jobs that will bring in a paycheck, as well as jobs that fit your lifestyle, personality, and interests. All the jobs on the list have aflexible scheduleyou can tailor to fit your work preferencesReview these good jobs for retirees to find an option that works for you. 01Consultant/Freelance Westend61 / Getty ImagesOnce youve decided what you want to do there are a variety of ways to find a job. You can search job sites, like Indeed.com and Monster.com, to find jobs to apply for. Use keywords that match the type of job youre looking for and add the location where you are interested in working to get the best results.Use CoolWorks.com to look for seasonal and resort jobs. Youll find a lot of listings at resorts around the country. You can search all jobs, or browse jobs listed by season, state, category, and national park.Craig slist is an option for freelance part-time, flexible and short-term jobs. Visit the site for your location and check the Gigs and Part-Time sections as well as the jobs section.Word of mouth works, too. Tell everyone you know that youre interested in going back to work, even if its on a limited part-time basis. You may be able to get some good leads that pan out into a job.

5 Tips for Planning an Event No One Will Forget

5 Tips for Planning an Event No One Will Forget5 Tips for Planning an Event No One Will ForgetWeve all been to company events that wowed us and others that were duds. So if youre the one in charge of that next sekretariat festivitt, the pressure is on to make it an event thats talked about the next day - for all the right reasons. Here are some tips for planning an event that no one will forget.Now more than ever, administrative professionals are involved in a wide variety of undertakings in the office. And chances are one of those tasks is event planning.Case in point Seventy-eight percent of admins said their managers have asked them to assist with event planning. Thats according to research we conducted with the International Association of Administrative Professionals for the Office of the Future project. And of those who havent been asked, nearly half said they would like to be.Regardless of what kind of event you help with, be it the annual holiday party, an after-work office celebration or an ugly-sweater contest, planning an event for your colleagues should be a highlight of your day rather than a burden on your schedule. Use these five event-planning tips to make your next office party run smoothly and truly stand out as an affair to rememberKnow your budgetWhether youve been given the go-ahead to throw a fancy holiday soiree, or youre limited to planning a Presidents Day potluck in the break room, knowing your budget and sticking to it will help you - and your boss - breathe a little easier. There are plenty of ways to throw a budget-friendly get-together, such as considering alternate venues or getting colleagues involved in the decorating, catering or entertainment offerings.Be tech savvyIf youre planning an event that requires collecting information or ideas from colleagues (think potlucks, Secret Santa gift exchanges or brown bag lunches), turn to productivity apps and software to maximize your planning resources. Google Apps, Doodle and Survey Monkey are all popular options for creating surveys, making sign-up forms and settling on convenient dates when event planning.Rally the troopsWhat is the measure of a successful office party? More often than not, attendance is a key factor. To help ensure RSVPs, get the word out early, talk up the event with management in all departments and dont shy away from reaching out to employees individually. Give employees plenty of time to plan ahead.Think outside the officeWhile the office is a frequent setting for lunches, social hours and even holiday parties, start thinking outside the office walls when it comes to planning an event. Giving the team a chance to step out of the office can encourage camaraderie, and outings such as bowling, laser tag or challenge courses can foster teamwork while allowing employees to enjoy and express their competitive sides.If the event youre planning is a celebratory dinner, holiday party or other special event, consider booking a more unusual venue, such as a local museum, park or art gallery.Pick a themeConsider tying together your venue, food and entertainment with a creative theme. Offering a make-your-own sushi station, a strolling musician or interactive casino tables will leave your guests talking long after the party is over.Just be sure to consider the audience - are you including employees children, spouses or customers? Determining the type of atmosphere you want to evoke before you start planning an event will help you achieve the right balance of entertainment and professionalism.No matter the season or the reason for your involvement with coordinating something special, these event-planning tips can help it all go smoothly while ensuring all in attendance have a great time.Be sure to view more findings from the Office of the Future research project, including key traits the most successful administrative professionals share.This post was originally published in October 2014 and has been updated to reflect more cur rent information.

The Argument About Accounting Intern Resume

The Argument About Accounting in eigener sache Resume Hiring managers realize that someone coming right out of school is probably going to have a whole whole lot of work experience, especially within the field. Finding a license will enhance your likelihood of getting noticed by the dream companies and can help you land a nice job faster. Finding a new job every year appears bad on a resume and will hurt your odds of being hired later on. Job objective It is by far the most important portion of your resume. Then youre going to be ready to submit an application for account assistant jobs with confidence. Many career advice websites can help you make a resume that will draw the attention of hiring managers. Additionally, its necessary to earn the related certification if you wish to land work outside your specialty since it will tell the HR managers which you will be capable of doing the work right. Whatever certifications youve got, make aya theyre related to the work opening. The Number One Question You Must Ask for Accounting Intern Resume Resume objectives are something which you must get right. Task lists arent going to cause you to stick out from the crowd. What You Should Do About Accounting Intern Resume Starting in the Next Two Minutes The target of an accounting internship is to assist interns learn more on the topic of daily accounting tasks and activities. If you dont have experience, then attempt to obtain an internship after possible. Based on the employer, an intern could have a part-time job or may have to work full-time like every other regular employee. Learning easy strategies to write resume could be fairly an intimidating task. Tailoring your objective to fulfill the demands of the open position is always a great concept, as giving hiring managers exactly what they would like to hear is a great way to get ahead of different applicants. Expand your objective to include things like a persuasive overview of why youre the correct internship job candidate. Writing a good application is a tough procedure and we want to make it simpler. An effective internship resume objective is necessary to stand out as the proper internship candidate. Accounting Intern Resume Options You may use the next list of top, sought-after skills to decide whether a career in accountancy may be a great match for you. In case you still have zero thought, you might love to get a web-based career assessment. Youll discover several methods to specify whether youre tired of the career youre in and also how exactly to locate a brand-new livelihood. To begin with, your career should be interesting for you personally. What Accounting Intern Resume Is - and What it Is Not Needless to say, the amount of your resume isnt only dictated by industry. The wages will shortly be dependent on the company and its location also. A premium quality sample accounting resume will contain all the key terms and phrases an employer will be searching for many times throughout the resume. Just a couple of days can be sufficient to provide a junior accounts receivable resume a good footing. If you arent a member of an accounting, organization, or professional organization, its simple to join. Therefore, in an attempt to retain talent and keep competitive, companies are prepared to pay more. Oftentimes, available positions in little businesses are overlooked because of deficiency of advertisement. A human services resume must demonstrate that the applicant possesses the knowledge required to use a particular people or possibly to clinic in a particular environment. Whether youre a recent accounting graduate or youve been in the area for at least a decade, crafting the ideal accountant resume objective could help make sure your resume stands out from the remainder of the stack. After learning about the audit services from assorted professionals, it has inspired me to pursue a career in audit due to their capacity to work wit h different customers, learn more regarding the organization and financial conditions, which has ever been an interest of mine. Rather than focusing your career objective statement solely on emphasizing your major abilities or strengths, you also need to be specific to the job which youre applying for and furthermore, you have to mention what you can do to help the organization or employer. My advice for students which dont have distinction average marks is to concentrate on highlighting different areas where youre able to add value to an organisation. The Hidden Gem of Accounting Intern Resume You might even have a hobby for example, writing a blog thats a review of every book you read or posting beautiful photographs on the internet that could be related to your job application. Meta descriptions permit you to influence the way your web pages are described and displayed in search success. The surface of the page is going to be reserved for your name and contact details. Res ume examples and templates are very helpful, especially when youre writing one of your initial resumes.

How to Balance Hiring for Cultural Fit and Functionality - Spark Hire

How to Balance Hiring for Cultural Fit and Functionality - Spark HireHiring managers today understand that cultural fit is a major point to consider when bringing a new employee on board. If the new team member doesnt see eye-to-eye with co-workers and clashes with management, its unlikely that theyll stick around for long. But while youll want to consider how they would blend in with the rest of your staff, you also must ensure that they have the skills necessary to do the assigned tasks properly. Its a delicate balance, and it can make hiring difficult. Heres how to ensure that the new hire youre thinking of bringing on board strikes that balanceKnow what matters to your brandWhen you know what matters to your company, it makes hiring much easier and youre mora clear on what type of person youre looking to add to your team. You should know what kinds of skills an employee should have, and should also know what types of people do well within your organization. Should they be good at collaborating on projects or prefer to work alone? Does your office generally do well with creative types or do you typically support those who tend to play by the rules? Taking inventory and figuring ansicht points out in advance ensures future hiring success.Figure out whats negotiableNo candidate is perfect. For successful hiring, figure out which traits and skills are essentials, and which ones would be nice to have. If you spend your time looking for a person who has absolutely everything, youll never fill an open role. But when youre searching for someone who possesses most of what youre looking for, hiring goes much more smoothly.Use your employees as a resourceMany managers forget that their employees are often their most valuable resource. Dont be afraid to ask current team members for feedback. Who do they enjoy working alongside? What kinds of people do they think do well in your organization? Who do they think would help your business grow in the future? Your staff memb ers can offer valuable insight, and will also appreciate knowing that their thoughts are taken into consideration as you hire in the future.Look at the candidate as a wholeIts easy to focus just on how someone interviewed or to zero in solely on what their resume looks like. Instead, make it a point to consider all aspects of a candidate, including past experience, skills, and personality. Taking a more three-dimensional approach to analyzing whether a candidate would be a good fit ensures more effective hiring.How do you balance hiring for both cultural fit and functionality? Share with us in the comments.Image monkeybusinessimages/BigStock.com

6 Anecdotes You Need to Rehearse Before Your Next Interview

6 Anecdotes You Need to Rehearse Before Your Next Interview6 Anecdotes You Need to Rehearse Before Your Next Interview Should You Stay or Should You Go? Youve aced Tell me about yourself . Youre cool as a cucumber when asked, Why do you want to work here? And you laugh in the face of What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? Youre way past Interviewing 101, but theres a tricky subset of questions that you may not have mastered yet behavioral questions .Behavioral interview questions require you to pull a specific moment from your work history to explain and expand on, and they can be one of the hardest ones to tackle - interview questions are tough enough, but coming up with an example on the spot makes it all the more difficult.To give you a head start, we pulled out a flosseful of behavioral interview questions from our list of the top 50 most common interview questions. Get ahead of th e game by learning how to answer them and preparing anecdotes in advanceResist the urge to talk about that time you won your office softball league playoffs or how you got a 4.0 in your hardest class in college. To really nail this question, you should share a story that is as close as possible to the job you are interviewing for, and that best showcases your strengths and approach to work, says Aurora Meneghello, career coach and founder of Repurpose Your Purpose . Describe an instance where there welches a problem, state the impact of that problem, and how you were able to solve it. Share the results beyond your immediate solution. For example, if you created a new onboarding ordnungsprinzip for new hires, share why the company needed one, what was the impact of not having an onboarding system, how you went about creating one, and how, one year later, there is less churn, employees are more efficient, etc., Meneghello says.One of the oldest tricks in the book is for candidates to respond to this answer by sharing a mistake thats actually a positive attribute, such as I work too hard or I care too much. But be warned recruiters can usually see right through that.At the same time, though, you should avoid talking about a colossal failure. The mistake most people make is that they either try to dodge the question, or they give an example that is detrimental to them you are still there to sell yourself and prove yourself as a valuable asset, after all, says Steve Pritchard, HR Consultant for giffgaff . Instead, try to think of something that happened a long time ago. More importantly, focus on the lessons you learned and how you carried these lessons forward to ensure you didnt repeat the mistake, Pritchard recommends.When answering this question, make sure not to cast blame on others for whatever predicament you ended up in. Even if they had a hand in it, you dont want to sound like youre not a team player or dont take responsibility for yourself. Keep yo ur focus on what you did, and describe the circumstances in a neutral manner. Stay away from examples of difficult bosses or coworkers although all of us have experienced something like that, an interviewer has no idea whether you are correct in your assessment, or merely projecting your own faults onto others, Meneghello cautions.For example, you could talk about having to build a project with a fraction of the budget your competitors have, and how you were able to use grassroots techniques to overcome that obstacle. For your story to make the biggest impact, make sure to describe vividly why it was so difficult the bigger the problem you solved, the bigger your impact she says.Before you get caught up in sharing your accomplishments, take a step back. Because in order to convey to an interviewer how you went above and beyond, you need to first define above and beyond. Candidates often botch this question by failing to give a brief backstory. Before you can showcase how you w ent beyond the role, you have to first set the parameters of the job, says Executive Coach Tim Toterhi . Try to describe what the context of the task was, the goals, and what was specifically expected of you.It is best to pick a project which paid off for the company perhaps you stayed for two extra hours on several occasions to make sure everything was completed well ahead of schedule and to a high quality, or maybe you volunteered to pick up the work left over by a colleague who resigned, Pritchard says. Whatever the example, it should demonstrate a can-do attitude and a willingness to get involved and go the extra mile for your company.Again, in this situation, blaming or bad-mouthing someone isnt the right route to take. It will only make you look deflective or petty. Who knows? You may even be unknowingly disparaging your boss to someone who knows him or her. Especially if youre interviewing within your current industry the world is very small. The person you complain to, might attend church services with, or be married to a relation of your boss, says success strategist Carlota Zimmerman . Rather, the emphasis here is how disagreeing with your boss forced you to take initiative and to put the company first, ahead of your frustration and disappointment. Ideally, you want to make it clear that you and your boss maintain a civil, respectful, maybe even close relationship. You want to demonstrate your empathy for your boss and your belief in achieving the companys mission statement, Zimmerman adds.Dont get caught up in just listing every leadership role youve ever had - think about the ones where you truly made a difference. Anyone can rattle off the manager positions theyve held or the volunteer work they performed, but the leadership is measured on impact, Toterhi says. People should be changed (for the better) for having interacted with you. And, if youre lucky, you should be changed as well. And if those experiences are related to the work yo ull be doing, all the better. In addition, youll want to make sure that your experiences as a leader demonstrate proactivity .Never give examples of a time leadership was thrust upon you this sounds like you are reluctant to take on responsibility and have to be made to do so, Pritchard says. You should demonstrate your ability to build a harmonious team and create a positive working relationship with the people you lead.And, of course, that teamwork should ideally lead to results. Someone who is a leader is able to demonstrate the ability to get others to want to get on board with the direction the team is going. Think of an example when you were able to get coworkers or direct reports on board with an idea that had a successful outcome, advises April Klimkiewicz, career coach and owner of bliss evolution .

These are the hardest-working cities in the U.S.

These are the hardest-working cities in the U.S.These are the hardest-working cities in the U.S.No rest for the weary.Our nations employees are some of the most hard working in the world - working an average of 1,763 hours per year - approximately 25% more than our counterparts in Europe, but behind workers in Mexico (where people average 2,255 hours/year), according to the globalOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Yet, even in the U.S. there are some cities that burn the midnight oil more than others, according to a new study by financial advisor WalletHub,which looked at factors including the length of an average workweek, labor force participation rate, length of commute and number of hours spent volunteering and at leisure, according to Business Insider.Notably, researchers question whether longer hours necessarily mean more productivity - and say that longer hours can actually have negative influences on the community.Here are the hardest-working cities1.Anc horage, AlaskaAverage hours worked per week 40.9Average minutes spent commuting to work 19.5Average minutes of leisure time in a day 220.52. Plano, TexasAverage hours worked per week 40.5Average minutes spent commuting to work 26.0Average minutes of leisure time in a day 311.93. Cheyenne, WyomingAverage hours worked per week 40.4Average minutes spent commuting to work 13.7Average minutes of leisure time in a day 330.64. Virginia Beach, VirginiaAverage hours worked per week 40.2Average minutes spent commuting to work 23.2Average minutes of leisure time in a day 324.25. Irving, TexasAverage hours worked per week 40.3Average minutes spent commuting to work 23.4Average minutes of leisure time in a day 311.96. Scottsdale, ArizonaAverage hours worked per week 40.2Average minutes spent commuting to work 21.9Average minutes of leisure time in a day 343.37. San Francisco, CaliforniaAverage hours worked per week 39.8Average minutes spent commuting to work 31.7Average minutes of leisure time i n a day 320.08. Corpus Christi, TexasAverage hours worked per week 40.5Average minutes spent commuting to work 19.5Average minutes of leisure time in a day 311.99. Washington, DCAverage hours worked per week 40Average minutes spent commuting to work 29.7Average minutes of leisure time in a day 375.310. Sioux Falls, South DakotaAverage hours worked per week 38.9Average minutes spent commuting to work 16.7Average minutes of leisure time in a day 374.311. DenverAverage hours worked per week 39.3Average minutes spent commuting to work 24.8Average minutes of leisure time in a day 32712. DallasAverage hours worked per week 39.9Average minutes spent commuting to work 26Average minutes of leisure time in a day 311.913. Charlotte, North CarolinaAverage hours worked per week 39.5Average minutes spent commuting to work 24.9Average minutes of leisure time in a day 316.814. Gilbertt, ArizonaAverage hours worked per week 39.3Average minutes spent commuting to work 27.4Average minutes of leisure t ime in a day 343.315. Jersey City, New JerseyAverage hours worked per week 39.4Average minutes spent commuting to work 36.2Average minutes of leisure time in a day 344.2

Heres how successful people avoid information overwhelm

Heres how successful people avoid information overwhelmHeres how successful people avoid information overwhelmThere are binnenseemingly infinite options in the world today. With increasing options comes increased choices.This may seem like a good thing. But at a certain point, having more options and choices becomes negative. In the book, The Paradox of Choice Why More Is Less, psychologist Barry Schwartz explainsWe assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfactionHowever, choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make themChoice overload leaves you in a perpetual state of FOMO - always looking over your shoulder and questioning the decisions youve madeThis puts you in a constant state of stress, ever feeling like youre falling short, always questioning the decisions youve made, always wonderingHaving options is a good thing. Without options, you cant make choices. However, the best decision-makers in the world purposefully avoi d alfruchtwein ALL of the options available. They know that most of the information and choices out there are not only bad but harmful and destructive.Hence these powerful and important absoluts from Basecamp founder, Jason Fried, Im pretty oblivious to a lot of things intentionally. I dont want to be influenced that much.The Latin of the word decision means, to cut off. Making a decision is about cutting off choices - cutting you off from some other course of action.Removing options is not limiting, its liberating. It allows you actually to have a path, a plan, and to get some traction. Most people are tossed to and fro with every new idea. They have no stable footing upon which to stand, and consequently, they are wholly aimless and confused by the complexity of everything going on around them.You have to choose what you consume consciously. As Zig Ziglar has said, Your input determines your outlook. Your outlook determines your output, and your output determines your future.The information you allow yourself to process affects you greatly. You can become confused quickly with all of the conflicting voices, opinions, and options in the world today.Its easy to be seduced by the negative and the new. For instance, although the amount of warfare and deaths by human hands are reducing globally, you will not get that message watching the televised news or reading the newspaper.Its important to realize that everyone has a different agenda. Most peoples agendas are self-serving. In the case of the news, their focus is on inflating the negative because if they didnt do so, their viewership would plummet. Which is why Peter Diamandis, one of the worlds experts on entrepreneurship and the future of innovation has said, Ive stopped watching TV news. They couldnt pay me enough money.Regarding the news, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, said nearly 2,000 years ago, Are you distracted by breaking news? Then take some leisure time to learn something well, and stop bounci ng around.Are you bouncing around?The world can be a pretty confusing place. Which is why its more important now than ever to have a moral footing. You need to have something you believe in. Something you can stand on. This doesnt mean you put your blinders on. It merely means you recognize that more information is not better.Hence the words of T.S. Elliot Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?Wisdom requires making hard choices and firm commitments. It means drawing a line in the sand and standing firm. It involves removing negative options from your life because you only have so much time - and you have important work to do.Viktor Frankl wisely stated, For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of ones dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of ones surrender to a person other than oneself.To experience happiness and success in y our life, you need to have something bigger than yourself. You need to have a cause you believe in and other people whom you love and are willing to sacrifice for. It cant be all about you.Self-absorption brings confusion. Sitting around thinking in circles brings complexity. Wisdom is discernible and straightforward. As Leonardo da Vinci stated, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.Steve Jobs similarly stated, Simple can be harder than complex You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But its worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.You cannot move mountains in your life until you remove the complexity. It takes wisdom to live simple. It takes simplicity to have a clear and compelling vision you are working toward.Being simple has its drawbacks. Academic-types and air chair philosophasters will point the negative handglied at you. Theyll call you ignorant and wrong.And they wont entirely be wrong in their assessments. But they indeed arent entirely right either. You cant expect everyone to agree with you. Seth Godin has said, If someone doesnt like what youve made, ignore them. You didnt make it for them anyways.You cant let the voices of people who disagree with you dissuade you from doing great work. You have to ignore them.This doesnt mean that you dont get advice. Actually, youre learning all the time. Your worldview is constantly being updated, refined, and improved through transformative experiences and education. You are just highly conscious of who you accept advice from. You dont take advice from people who dont inspire you.Purposefully avoiding information that limits youOnly seek information that enables and empowers you to achieve your goals and to live your highest standards in life.The best learners in the world proactively seek information and knowledge they can use in the here-and-now to move forward. They are practical learners. They are implementers and movers. They are actually ou t in the world doing great things. They are helping other people. They arent overly academic and stuck in complexity.They are striving to remove complexity for themselves and others by solving problems. They have too much work to do to get caught up in the confusion of negative and unclear information. They need solutions. Therefore, theyve developed a powerful filter for eliminating negative and low-level information that doesnt support their mission.This is what Jason Fried was talking about. He doesnt want to be influenced by all of the confusion and noise in the world. Fried understand the words of Viktor Frankl - that you need a cause that drives you to get out of bed in the morning. As Darren Hardy said, Your life can be measured by the size of the problems you seek to solve.Are you out trying to solve significant problems?Do you see needs in the world that are worth your time and attention to attack?How well is your day spent?Are you doing stuff, or just sitting around confu sed in your head?Will L. Thompson (18471909) wrote a beautiful poem Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed.You are responsible for how you see and act in the worldWhat you focus on expands. What you pay attention to becomes your reality - psychologists call this selective attention. Of this, Dr. Stephen Covey said, We see the world, not as it is, but as we are or, as we are conditioned to see it.Your worldview is under your control. You have to train the garden of your mind. You need to develop a low tolerance for negative and low-level information that is limiting and limited in its scope.In the book Essentialism The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown states, You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. Almost all choices, options, and information in the world is noise.Almost all decisions are bad decisions. And you will quickly experien ce decision-fatigue if you dont proactively shield yourself from most of that noise. You shield yourself by creating an environment that fosters the type of inputs you desires. Your input shapes your outlook and conditions .you to see and act in the world in a certain way. If you do not proactively shape your environment, then you will become the reactive product of whatever environment finds you.If you want to live powerfully and move the world forward, you need a filtering system to eliminate the harmful noise from your life. You need to keep things simple, discernible, actionable, and helpful.The clearer you become on what your life is about, and the problems you seek to solve in the world, the less you will tolerate even good information and good options. As Jim Collins said, Good is the enemy of great. Similarly, Dallin Oaks said, We should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best.Australi an author, Robyn Davidson, said, The two important things I learned were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be and that the most difficult part of any endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision.You have to make a decision. And once you make that decision, you simultaneously eliminate 99.99% of other options. This is the smartest thing you can do. As Michael Jordan said, Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again. Similarly, Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.You must pass your point of no return.You must embrace the opportunity cost of making powerfully committed decisions. As Napoleon Hill said, Definiteness of Purpose is that starting point of all achievement. Until you become definite about what youre doing, you will continually be tossed to and fro. Life will become increasingly complex. Skepticism and doubt will become your emotional reality. And in that reality , your only goal will be to tear things down, rather than build something new.Are you building something powerful?Do you have a filtering system for eliminating irrelevant decisions and information that is more noise than signal?Do you have a purpose in life that is bigger than yourself?Have you made a real decision lately, and stuck to that decision?Are you like most people, who have a fragile relationship with commitment?Most people lie to themselves every day. They havent stuck to a real commitment and havent made a firm decision in a long time. They then seek information and opinions that justify their lack of progress.Make a decision.Own that decision.Become better.Go out into the world and do good of your own accord, not because someone told you to.Ready to upgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThispostfirst appeared on Medium.